


rain on akala

by dollcloud



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Crushes, F/F, Picnics, Rain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-16 21:19:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9290027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dollcloud/pseuds/dollcloud
Summary: Lana invites Mallow on a picnic to Memorial Hill. The weather doesn't cooperate.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a silly short story I wrote during a lecture when I should've been paying attention... >___> As always, critiques are welcome! Thank you very much for reading!

Akala Island looks completely different in the rain. The vibrant colours of the flora, sprawling jungles, and the pools of bright-blue shimmering clear water that dot the land turn a shade of homely grey. Though, rain isn’t something particularly unusual; compared to the other islands, rain is pretty common here, especially on the western coast. That doesn’t stop its residents from being disappointed, however.

Mallow doesn’t much like the rain. It turns Lush Jungle into a sticky mess; the mass of ferns and the thick upper canopy trap moisture surprisingly well, and after the rain, the air is almost dripping with humidity. It’s healthy for the plants (and Pokémon!) there, so she’s learned to cope.

Lana doesn’t care for it either. In the rain, fishing is much harder; most of the species of Brooklet Hill hide near the bottom of the lake, scared away by the noise and motion of raindrops. Besides that, she certainly doesn’t despise it; precipitation is an important part of the water cycle, after all, and the island looks so beautiful once the skies clear. 

Still, despite the pair’s ambivalence to the unexpected shower, one thought can’t help but cross Mallow’s mind:

_Oh, god, what an awful ending to a picnic._

And it’s true, of course; the food's melted into a sticky, starchy goop, there is no longer any use for the many bottles of water they’ve packed, and the ground is coated with a few inches of muddy clay, leaving miserable brown stains on their clothing.

Lana scoots herself onto one of the small boulders that cover the clearing, hoping to preserve her pants, at least. Together, they sit in one of the many meadows overlooking Konikoni City, just several minutes from their houses.

“Well, this sucks,” Mallow murmurs under her breath as she gathers the soggy remnants of their meal into a bamboo crate. “And I’m still hungry.”

“You really like to eat, don’t you?” Lana laughs softly. 

“Of course-- if I’m going to run the restaurant when I’m old enough, I should start practicing now.”

They sit together, still shocked by the sudden shower, for a few minutes. The rain’s coming down in torrents now. Normally, when it rains on Akala, it’s only a light shower, nothing like the veritable rainstorm today has given them. 

“Do you think we can wait this out?” 

“Lemme see…” Mallow cups her hand and it instantly fills with rainwater. “It is raining pretty hard.”

“It’s a thirty minute walk to the city, I believe.”

“No way! I think I’d get pneumonia if I was out here for more than a few minutes. Let’s look for shelter.”

The pair splits to search the clearing for dry spots. It doesn’t take long for Lana to notice a rock precariously perched against a slope, with a few inches of dry ground below it.

They squeeze in together, Mallow’s neck awkwardly pressed against the mossy rock and the other girl squeezed into a perfect ball. Even though there’s only half a year’s difference between them, Mallow is a good two feet taller, and she has to roll around Lana to fit into the narrow space.

Several minutes of awkward silence and heavy rainfall pass before either of them dare to speak. The first phrase comes from Lana, squeezed against the other girl’s legs in a painful, uncomfortable position. 

“We should have hiked down instead of staying here,” she murmurs. 

“It’ll be fine,” Mallow whispers hurriedly. Her voice is only partially drowned out by the rain. After a few moments of rain-soaked silence, she speaks again. “Do you wanna play a game?” 

“I don’t know if I can,” she responds. The girl is squeezed so tightly against Mallow that she’s having trouble breathing, let alone moving around. 

“No, no, just with words,” she reassures. “Alright. I’ll name a letter, and you tell me one thing that you like that starts with it.”

“Okay,” she says, but she’s not really okay. Her legs have started to become cramped, and worse yet, the soil beneath them has gotten soaked with mud. _Not fun._

“C!”

“Oh dear… let’s see, I like my Chinchou, and I like caring for people.”

“How about N?”

 

“Navy blue, and nature. You know… this isn’t very fun. Is there anything else we can do?”

The rain has grown steadily heavier, dulling her voice. Raindrops are pitter-pitter-pattering on the rock above them, filling the cracks and soaking them with stale rainwater.

“Nope,” Mallow leans over, placing her hand on the other girl’s shoulder. “You’re awfully cold and clammy. I should’ve brought the picnic blanket inside.”

The wooden box, intricately carved, sits in the center of the meadow, soaked thoroughly with rain. Underneath it is Lana’s red-and-white striped cloth, turned an ugly shade of grey.

“And,” Mallow continues, tapping the other girl’s cheek. “You should’ve checked the forecast before inviting me up here for a picnic, of all things!” She turns bright red in response.

“Oh,” she pauses. “L.”

“What?”

“What’s one thing you like that starts with an L?”

“Oh! I see. I think-- lemons, and Lana, of course!”

Lana turns even redder. “I think we should start hiking down,” she mutters.

“Shouldn’t we wait out the rain?”

“It will be a while until it stops raining. The air is still thick with humidity.”  
“Oh, you’ve got weather-forecasting powers now, huh?” She jokes.

\--

The two of them start on the journey to Kokikoni City. The rain hasn’t magically stopped; in fact, it’s thicker than ever, pressing down on them in thick torrents. Lana’s hair, now a dark blue, is plastered to her face messily. 

They decided to leave the basket and blanket in the clearing for one of them to recover later. It would be a hassle to carry them down together, Mallow said, especially because the path is rather steep-- and in the rain, it’s even worse. The near-vertical rocks that mark the trail have gotten slippery and dislodged, so they have to hold hands in order to travel safely. 

“I can see the lighthouse,” Lana murmurs. The glowing orange spire is just barely visible against the treeline. “It’s only ten minutes to my house, then.”

“You know this trail well, huh?”

“Yes. I come up here often… there’s a great view of the sea from the summit.”

"Thanks for sharing it with me! We have to come up here again after the weather improves."

Lana nods, nudging closer to her friend for support. 

“Can I stay at your house?” Mallow sighs. I’m already sopping wet. I don’t want to walk into our restaurant looking like I jumped into the lake.”

“Of course. I’ll hope that my younger sisters don’t bother you too much,” she laughs softly.

Mallow grins. “Thanks for taking me with you, by the way. I forgot to thank you earlier, but it really is nice to take a day off from my trial captain duties.”

“It wasn’t a problem. I wish it hadn’t started to rain… it could have been very nice.”

“It was! I had fun. We'll return soon enough, yeah,” she says, ruffling the other girl’s rain-soaked hair. 

By the time they’ve finished talking, they’re already at Lana’s door. Mallow’s sandals are coated with mud and grime, and both of them are soaked to the bone. However, inside, it’s warm and dry, and the sound of rain banging on the glass windows becomes more distant.  
Lana excuses herself to change out of her sopping wet clothes, and invites the other girl to do the same. When Mallow looks into the girl’s drawers, looking for a dry outfit, she’s surprised-- Lana has quite a collection of soft, warm sweaters, and more importantly, a set of Popplio-patterned pajamas. 

_It’s not often that I see her out of her captain clothing,_ she realizes. 

She decides on a light green sweater coated with a layer of fuzzy fabric and heads to the living room. Lana is sitting on her bunkbed, dressed in a white tank-top and shorts. Her bedroom is decorated with large fishing crates, images of the sea, and a widescreen television, all painted homely shades of blue. 

The other girl sits down next to her, leaving a water stain on the blanket-- even though she’s changed her clothing, her skin’s still wet, and so is her hair. She sighs and moves over to a pillow.

“You know, I really should thank you for taking me on that picnic.”

“It wasn’t exactly a picnic… it would have been, but-- oh well, it’s too late now.”

Mallow pokes her nose jokingly. “It’s fine, it’s fiiine. I was just kidding earlier.”

“I made some food for dinner. I was planning to eat it alone, but there should be enough to for both of us. Would you like to join me?”

“Sure!”

A few minutes later, Lana returns, holding a platter of food; a bowl of lomi salmon, an assortment of sashimi arranged delicately around the edges of the plate, and of course a large bowl of dried chili pepper for Mallow, who uses them religiously on everything she eats.

“Aren’t you worried you’re going to hurt your throat from using so much seasoning?” She murmurs, watching with concerned eyes as the other girl empties the bowl on her plate.

“Nope! It makes my heart feel warm, you know,” she mumbles. “I love it.”

Lana grins. “I hope that isn’t a bad thing.”  
“‘Course not,” she reassures, already halfway done with the meal. 

The rain is still pouring against the window-panes, and the sky has already faded to a deep shade of violet. 

“The sun has already begun to set,” Lana whispers.

“Yeah! We met on Memorial Hill at 3, and the sun sets earlier this time of day.” 

She nods in response, feeling her face turn red. The other girl holds her hand softly-- she’s still cold and clammy from being out in the rain. “...My sisters should get home soon.”

“Where are they?”

“I took them to Melemele to visit a friend. Their parents should bring them home.”

“Harper and Sarah, right? I haven’t been to your house in a long time.”

“Yes. They’re grown a lot recently, and they’re really talkative now,” she laughs. “I’m glad to see you. There have been a lot of challengers on Akala, and it’s gotten very busy.”

Mallow wraps her arm around the other girl’s shoulder and pats her twice, tapping her feet against the bed-frame. “I get it! There have been lots of tourists here, and some of them even think they can go through the island challenge as a vacation activity, and then they get too scared to fight the totem pokémon,” she grins. 

As time passes, their voices begin to blend into each other.

 _It’s much easier for me to talk when I'm with Mallow_ , Lana realizes. Her speech seems much more natural now, like she can talk without effort. _I barely ever feel like this with someone._ She feels her face growing warmer and warmer, and she pulls at her hair nervously. The rain continues to fall against the windows against the bed as the sky slowly fades to black.


End file.
